Grace
by krahmogh
Summary: Futurefic. Comes many years after my story Michael.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I have some more of this story done. I'm posting in stages. Please R&R and let me know if you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate. If I did Jack and Sam would be the happiest couple in the galaxy.

'Did I do the right thing?' I ask myself as I sit here watching my nephew play in the sparkling clear water under this beautiful Argosian sun. We came here to Argos for the day to swim. I can't just go into Colorado Springs and use the pool at the Y or something. I haven't left Cheyenne Mountain by conventional means since I was six years old. That was thirteen years ago. I grew up in my quarters on Level 12. My schooling was all done either by internet or tutoring by my older brother Daniel Jackson. Daniel was ascended for a few years while I was growing up and spent a lot of time at my side. My parents were away a lot. They were always needed off world in the war with the Goa'uld. When I was nine, Daniel went to the Ancients and asked to become human again. They warned him that if he took human form for a third time they would not help him ascend again. He understood but he missed being able to interact with anyone but me and decided that it would be worth it even if his next brush with death would be the final one.

I left the reality I grew up in and came to this one for the first time when I was fourteen. My brother George was twelve and my nephew, Jonathan Jacob "JJ" Jackson was two. The mountain was being invaded and we got cut off from the gate. Luckily, Daniel had shown me where the Quantum mirror was stored and how to use it if I ever needed to. So, the three of us jumped through hoping to find a safe haven. It took three more jumps before we found this reality where none of the three of us existed. Nearly two years later, my fiancée, Adam Shepherd showed up to take us back home. He had searched for us for nearly six months on other planets before finally checking other realities. It seems that "Uncle Thor" had finally shown up and saved the Earth of my original reality. So we returned to our original reality. Things were fine for a few months but it didn't take long for things to fall apart.

A Tok'ra operative named Martouf came to our reality through the mirror because his own had been attacked. Two days after he showed up, my mother left my father for Martouf. I knew it was coming from the moment I saw him. The Samantha Carter of this reality had never left the Air Force to marry Jack O'Neill and have his children. She and Martouf have been together ever since their very first encounter in which the Tok'ra named Selmac blended with her father in order to save both of their lives. I'm okay with that in this reality because it explains why she and I are so distant and it means that "Dad" and I are really close here. George and Adam had both been spending more and more time off world at the Alpha site learning everything they can about the F-302. They both want to follow their fathers as pilots. Then there was Daniel's recent behavior. His wife Janet had been killed on a mission not long before I came here the first time. Daniel threw himself into his work as a way of grieving the loss of a wife for the second time. Unfortunately, this left me raising my nephew. So I came here and brought JJ with me to a dad who does love to spend time with him. The Janet Fraiser of this reality was killed before she and Daniel ever had a chance to be together. Daniel did care about her and was very saddened when she was killed. We've been here for almost two years again.

Last night, Alec Rabb proposed to me. He has cared for me since the first time we met nearly four years ago. At the time I was grieving the loss of Adam since I didn't know if I would ever see him again. Alec knows that I don't love him the way I do Adam but he cares about me anyway and wants to marry me. I told him I needed to think about it and that's why I'm here on Argos watching JJ play in the water and wondering if being here has really been the right thing for us. Daniel says that the reason Adam hasn't come for us this time is that they want to show me that my coming back is my own decision to make and that I'm grown up enough to make that decision. It bothers me that they haven't at least sent him to inquire about JJ.

"Grace?" I turn my head at the sound of my brother's voice. "Grace, Adam's here. You need to come back to Earth and talk to him."

I ask no questions. I know from the look on his face that he wants to let Adam explain things. We get JJ out of the water and head for the Stargate.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed. I know Sam and Jack are really meant to be together. Consider this slightly AU if you need to. If I stole any character names from anyone, I didn't mean to. I've read so much fanfic, it all starts to blend together after a while.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I'm just borrowing them for a bit.

We set JJ up with some crayons and paper in the General's office before joining my fiancée and father at the table in the briefing room. I am glad to see Adam but I'm on my guard wondering what has finally brought him here. "Is something wrong at home?" I ask curiously.

Adam seems relieved that I'm willing to get right to the point. "Yes it is. Grace, George has been diagnosed with leukemia."

My face pales and my eyes widen at the thought of my younger brother in pain. "How long ago? How bad is he? What can I do to help?" I stumble over my words remembering Adam in the same predicament almost ten years ago. We had to bring him to Earth from Atlantis because they weren't equipped to treat cancer in the Pegasus Galaxy. The son of John Shepherd and Dr. Elizabeth Weir does not exist in this reality because there had been no Grace Danielle O'Neill to help him through his treatments. We've known that our love for each other was strong enough to last since we were ten years old. We've considered ourselves 'betrothed' since that time.

"He was only diagnosed a few weeks ago. He's trying to be brave and claims he's not in any major pain but he is tired a lot. You can help by coming home and finding out if you're a match to be a bone marrow donor. Dr. Moore says he can be better in six months if we can get a donor fast enough. Daniel, Michael, and your parents have already been tested. None of them are a match but the hope is that a full sibling will be and that's you. The next step is to test JJ and then to check the nationwide database. The hope is that you'll be a match and the search can end with you. Will you please return home with me and try to save your brother's life?"

It only took me a moment to know that of course I would be returning home to my own reality. As he said, George and I are full siblings, being the only two children of Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter. My father has six children and George and I are the only two that he's had the privilege of watching grow up. He didn't know that Daniel was his son until they had already known each other for close to ten years. Daniel's mother had never told Jack the truth but Sam figured it out when she and Daniel sorted through some of his parents' papers together. His father had the mumps at the age of seventeen and couldn't have children.

Michael Thomas O'Neill is the son my father had with Janet Fraiser when she was still a medical student and he was in the States on leave. He didn't find out about his son until Michael was almost two and then Janet wouldn't marry him because his job was too dangerous. He kept in touch with them as much as possible and saw Michael on the weekends whenever he was home. Things were much easier for the two of them once Dad was assigned to the Stargate program here at Cheyenne Mountain.

Dad's son Charlie accidentally killed himself with Dad's gun shortly before the first mission through the Stargate. Dad always remembers him fondly and keeps a picture of him on his desk. Dad's daughter, Kiara, lives on Edora with her mother, Laira. Dad found out about her when SG-5 returned to the planet for a follow-up visit. They decided that it would be better for her to stay with her mother and brother on her own world. Dad has visited her a few times and she even came to Earth once but she wasn't comfortable with our technology and stuff so she went home to her more simple life.

George and I both grew up within the safe haven of the mountain because some of Dad's enemies tried to kidnap me when I was little. Due to those three kidnapping attempts, I haven't left the mountain by conventional means since I moved into it on my sixth birthday. I have left the mountain by Quantum Mirror and Stargate quite a few times. I actually feel safer on other planets than I do on my own.

So, now, almost two years after coming here to a place where I felt safe, I found myself saying goodbye to my "Dad" once again. This time I had to go home to try and save my brother's life.


	3. Chapter 3

Daniel is waiting for us as we step through the mirror. He murmurs a "thanks" to Adam as he pulls JJ and me into a bear hug. It's a minute or so before he lets go and shepherds us into the hallway and towards the elevators. "Jack wants full physicals and blood work on both of you."

"Where is Dad?" I ask quietly.

"In a meeting he couldn't put off. Anise showed up just after Adam went through the mirror. Some kind of new experiment she's trying to talk Jack into letting her perform on SGC personnel. He's trying to stand his ground but she may be able to wear him down. I'll call up and let him know you're back once we get you into the infirmary. I'm glad you're back. I want to talk to both of you later." He adds as we reach the outer doors of the infirmary. Dr. Moore greets us warmly and ushers us to one of the beds so he can get started.

MEANWHILE IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM

General Jack O'Neill sat calmly listening to Anise describe her latest find. It was a device that would make the wearer invisible. If it worked correctly, it could have far-reaching implications to both the Tok'ra and the Tau'ri. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Jack looked up to see Sgt. Greene in the doorway. "Sorry to disturb you General. Dr. Jackson just called from the infirmary. Adam's mission was a success."

"Well," he began as he looked to Anise, "we'll have to continue this later. My daughter has just returned home and I need to see for myself that she's okay. Sgt., could you see that Anise here is allowed to return to her people? Check back with us in a few days. I'll consider your proposal and be prepared to give you an answer then. Good day." He finished and then walked out through his office as he headed to see his daughter and grandson for the first time in nearly two years.

"Dad" "Granddad" Shouted Grace and JJ as Jack walked into the room. The reunion between the three was a warm one. Jack hugged both of them in turn and couldn't keep the grin off of his face as he stepped back to survey the changes that had taken place in his daughter and grandson in the two years since he had last seen them. JJ appeared to have grown six inches and his hair had finished darkening to Daniel's color. There was no question as to the parents of Jonathan Jacob Jackson. He had Daniel's lankiness and hair color with Janet's eyes and smile.

Jack turned his gaze to his daughter. With her short blond hair and the twinkle in her eyes, she was Sam Carter all over again. Jack still couldn't understand how Sam could put her work in front of her own children. And yet she had done so for most of their lives. Sam's work had always come first. Even when Grace was little during the kidnapping attempts. All Sam ever wanted to know was that Grace was safe and then her work on the latest piece of Goa'uld technology would take precedence once again.

Maybe that's why Grace had stayed away so long this time. At least, in the other reality, she didn't expect Sam to want a close relationship with her so it was easier for her there. He knew that one of her other reasons for leaving had been his treatment of her. He had so readily accepted Adam's willingness to train as an F-302 pilot; he had been sending him to spend more and more time learning about the craft off-world at the Alpha site. Grace felt under-appreciated and left to return to people who would care about her.

"Did the doc get your blood work yet? We need to know as soon as possible so we can start checking the database if we need to."

"Yeah, Dad, all done, see?" Grace responded as they both showed him the bandages on their arms. "Now, where's George? I want to let him know we're back."

"He's upstairs asleep in our quarters. He tires out very quickly. I checked on him just after Adam left to get you two. Michael's sitting with him. I'm sure they'll both be glad to see the two of you. But first, please tell me you're home to stay. Even if you can't help George, I want you both to stay here. I've missed you too much."

Grace could see the little changes that had taken place in her father in the two years she'd been gone. There were a few more worry lines in his face and his limp seemed a little more pronounced when he came into the room. She wondered if he was in pain, tired, or if the worry over George's illness was causing the stiffness in the bad knee. "Yes, Dad, JJ and I are home to stay. We were actually on Argos when Adam arrived and Daniel had to come get us. I was watching JJ swim and contemplating coming back. It was very selfish of me to take us there in the first place and I only hope you and Daniel can forgive us for staying away so long. I never meant for us to stay so long. It was just so easy there. As time went on, we started to feel more and more like we were where we belonged. If it hadn't been for Alec, I probably would've forgotten about coming home altogether. But the more attention Alec paid me, the more it made me want to come home to Adam. I'm going to try and talk to him later and see if he can forgive me as well."

"There's nothing to forgive." Adam interjected as he walked into the room. "Daniel told me about Alec before he went to get you from Argos. He said he was glad I finally came so you wouldn't stay and marry Alec. I'm glad I came too. If the one there is anything like the one here, I really don't like the thought of you married to him. I have loved you for too long to ever be happy at the thought of you with someone else. Please tell me that you're home to keep your promise to me. Your dad says I can have a permanent posting here at Stargate Command if we're married. Will you Grace, will you marry me?" His eyes begged her to say yes.

Grace looked from her fiancée to her father and then to her nephew. All were smiling and waiting patiently for her answer. Her own smile lit up her face as she carefully worded her answer. "I was going to ask you the same thing. Yes, Adam, I did come home to marry you."

She didn't get to finish as she was suddenly enveloped in the arms she had missed for the past two years. Adam kissed her with a passion she once thought she would never feel again. When he let her go, she looked into his eyes once again. "But," she continued, "I need to see to my brother's needs first. If either JJ or I can be his donor, then I need to concentrate on that before I even try to wrap my head around planning my wedding.

"Can I still be in it? You said if you get married, I could be in it." JJ asked.

"Yeah, buddy, you get to be in the wedding," Adam reassured the little boy as he laid a hand on shoulder. He then turned back to Grace. "And I understand about taking care of George first. After what you did for me ten years ago, I would expect you to do nothing less for your own brother. We'll take all the time we need as long as you promise to stay in this reality."

"I promise," she replied as she hugged him again. She remained in Adam's arms as she turned to face her dad. "So, you knew about this and its ok with you right?"

"Yes, Adam had my permission to ask you. We talked it over last night when I asked him to go and talk to you about coming back to help George. I hope he's feeling well enough to spend some time with you this evening. Your brother's really missed you. Trying to fight this illness without you and been even harder on him. In fact, why don't we head upstairs and see if he's awake yet. Then you can tell him all about this wedding he needs to get better for."


	4. Chapter 4

When Grace walked into the family quarters on Level 12 for the first time in two years, she felt as though she had never left. They looked exactly like the ones she had been occupying in the other reality all this time. There were a few differences of course. Some of George's things were scattered about. The baseball and glove he liked to hold while watching a game on TV, his mp3 player sitting on the coffee table, and a half-finished glass of orange juice next to a bottle of painkillers. Grace remembered well how Adam had depended on those pills to get through the day when he was being treated for his cancer. She hated the thought that her younger brother was now going through the same thing. They heard a door opening and looked down the hallway as Michael Thomas O'Neill caught sight of his sister and seconds later she was in his arms.

He pulled back after a few seconds and held her at arms length. "I'm glad you're here. George doesn't know that Adam went after you. We didn't want to get his hopes up. You can go back and see him. He's awake now. I was just coming out to get his juice."

Grace reached down and picked up the juice glass before turning to the others. "I'd like to see him alone for a few minutes if it's okay."

"Yasureyabetcha," was her father's reply.

She entered the room to find George sitting up in bed with his nose in a book. It was probably one of those fantasy stories he liked so much. She grinned at how normal he looked. "So, little brother, what's this I hear about you laying in bed all day? Isn't there work to do or something?"

At the first sound of her voice, his head whipped up and the book dropped from his finger tips. The smile on his face stretched from ear to ear as he answered her, "Well, you know how it is, anything to get out of studying combat tactics. So, they finally did it. They sent Adam to get you. And all it took was for me to be diagnosed with a terminal illness." He sounded so much like Jack O'Neill as he said it. As if the galaxy needed more than one Jack O'Neill. There was actually four of him: the original, the clone, now called Jon, Michael and George. Daniel had never been compared to Jack and Charlie was gone now.

"Hey, I don't want any talk of dying. JJ and I have both had our blood work drawn. They're checking right now to see if either of us is a match to be your donor. We'll have you better in no time. Oh, here's the juice you sent Michael out there for."

"Thanks," he replied as he finished the contents of the glass and set it on the night stand. "Just as long as I don't have to resort to being blended with a Tok'ra I'll be fine." George had also inherited his father's distaste for the "snakes". Grace had her mother's tolerance for the Tok'ra, as long as Martouf stayed out of her way.

"Speaking of the Tok'ra have Mom and Martouf been around at all? I know she and I weren't exactly on speaking terms when I left, but I'd like to let her know I'm back."

"Actually, Dad and Mom started having bigger problems after you left so he had her transferred to R & D at Area 51. Martouf returned to his people and hasn't been around since. Mom came back right after I was diagnosed to see if she was a match. After we found out she wasn't, she headed right back to Nevada. She called yesterday to check on me but I was sleeping and Michael just told her I was the same as last week when she called."

Grace shook her head as she listened to her brother's words and tried to hold in her anger as she replied, "That is so typical of her, 'I'm glad you're okay but work's more important attitude'. I'm glad she's at Area 51. I won't have to run into her too much this way. Hey, you okay to see JJ? I want to talk to Dad about something else anyway."

"Yeah, send him on back. I'll bet he's grown a foot since you two left. Grace, really, thanks for coming home."

"You're welcome."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry it has taken me so long to get this chapter out. It's actually been written for a while but we moved and I forgot to submit it. I hope there are still people reading this. Let me know and I might post the next chapter tomorrow.

Grace returned to the living room and sent JJ and Michael to see George as she turned to face her father. "You reassigned Mom to Nevada?" She shook her head as she smiled and went on, "Dad, I didn't know you had it in you. I didn't think you'd ever agree to reassign Samantha Carter somewhere where you couldn't keep a constant eye on her."

"Yes, I did," her father answered, "and actually, it was a mutual decision. She wanted to be more involved in research and I wanted her out of my command. It's worked out well for both of us. We can talk about work without any of the hostility we were showing before you left. I know that means that she's not here right now while George is sick, but she has been tested, she's been here to see him, and she calls me to check on him at least every other day. Plus, she has made three separate breakthroughs since she got out there. She's able to study things she didn't have time for because she was always going off-world."

"George has been perfectly okay with it because it means there are no constant arguments like there were before you left. The transfer happened long before George's diagnosis and when we talked about it after he got sick, we all three decided that her work out there was more important and that Michael and I would continue to care for George. Now that you're home I'm sure she'll want to visit again but her current assignment will stand as it is. Can you understand why we felt the need to go through with this?" he asked her.

Grace looked thoughtful as she took a few moments to allow her father's words to sink in. She and Sam were certainly not the closest mother and daughter of all time. Her mother was a big part of the reason Grace had just spent close to two years in an alternate reality. Still, every kid dreamed that one day their parents would get back together. Grace had secretly been hoping that hers might have patched things up while she was gone. She had thought maybe her mother would be there to help her brother get better so they could plan Grace's wedding together. Now, she was being told that her mother really had let her work become the most important thing in her life. Sam had even accepted a transfer away from her teenaged son so she could continue her work without familial obligations getting in the way. Grace's conundrum; how easily could she accept the facts as they had been presented to her? She looked back up at her father's face to see a questioning look as he waited for her response.

"Yeah, Dad, I understand. I guess things were pretty rotten and my absence couldn't have made it any better. I would like to call her as soon as possible. I want to let her know that I'm okay and that I'm back George said she called and spoke to Michael yesterday so she's probably not calling today. He said she doesn't call that much."

Jack grinned as he put his arm around this daughter he had missed so much. "We can definitely arrange a phone call. And actually she calls me in my office more than she calls up here because she doesn't want to disturb George if he's asleep. I'm sure you remember how much sleep Adam needed when he was going through this same thing."

"Yeah, I do," she replied. "I remember wishing so hard that he would get better faster because I was tired of watching him sleep so much. I already loved him and it hurt to watch him going through all of that." Tears suddenly filled her eyes as she looked back at her father, "Daddy, George will pull through like Adam did won't he? We won't lose George after everything else that's happened, right? We won't lose him to cancer, will we?"

The tears were streaming down her face by this point and her father gathered her close to his chest. He held her and stroked her hair as he had done to her mother for the first time when they realized they had left Daniel behind when Nem kidnapped him. Jack pulled back as he felt her quiet down. He held her face between his hands and looked her square in the eyes as he told her, "Grace Danielle O'Neill soon to be Shepherd, we are going to do our best to see that your brother beats this disease with just as much strength as your fiancée did nine years ago. As a last resort, I am even willing to speak to the Tok'ra about blending him. I know he'd be against it but it worked for your grandfather, it could work for George.

"But, let's try what we're doing right now first. They're running the tests on your blood and JJ's. Then, we'll consult the national bone marrow registry. I'll even call the Nox to come and help him if I have to okay. We will see that George gets better and he will be smiling proudly as he watches you get married."

"Now," he continued, "you go wash your face, you and I are going down to the control room to call your mother. That way, she can see for herself that you're really here. She'll probably be on the next flight out here once she does. I know she has missed you. She wanted me to bring you home two weeks ago. I held off but Adam and Michael finally talked me into sending Adam for you. I'm glad I did. I certainly didn't want you to stay there and marry Alec Rabb. He doesn't deserve you the way Adam does."

"You're right, Dad, he doesn't," she replied. "I just didn't know how to tell him that. I'm glad I didn't have to. Let me wash and we'll go make that call."


	6. Chapter 6

The now civilian scientist Dr. Samantha Carter sat at the table in her lab at Area 51. The piece of technology which she was currently studying had been brought back to Earth by SG-4 three weeks ago and had been brought to her once it had been deemed "safe enough to leave the mountain". She had been studying it for the past four hours without noticing that the lunch hour had come and gone. Her current eating habits were a drawback of not being at Stargate Command anymore. When she had been there, Jack, Daniel, Michael, and even Walter Harriman were always making sure she had something to eat. Here, everyone was just as consumed with their own projects as she was. She'd been here for close to a year and had yet to make real friends with anyone who would look after her as those at Stargate Command had always done.

Just as she was rubbing her eyes for what seemed like the tenth time in the last five minutes and contemplating taking a break, the phone rang beside her left elbow causing her to jump out of her seat before reaching for it. "Carter," she spoke tiredly.

She was surprised to hear her ex-husband's voice on the other end of the line. They had spoken only yesterday concerning her son's illness and she always called him if it was work related. His words though, were ones she had waited to hear for close to two years. "Sam, Grace is home. We're in the control room if you want to switch on your monitor and see how much she's grown."

Without even replying verbally, Sam turned on the monitor which would link her visually to her daughter. Grace stared back at the mother she had once felt the need to run away from. "Hi, Mom, I hear all that off-world travel finally got tiring."

"Grace," Sam whispered in relief. "Are you home to stay? Have you seen George yet? Jack, how soon can I come out there?" She was almost tripping over her words in her excitement.

Grace answered her mother first, "Yes, I'm home to stay. I'm going to see George get well again and then I'm going to marry Adam. I've already seen George. We left JJ and Michael with him when we came down here to call you."

"Sam," Jack added, "you can catch the next plane and come on home for a visit. I'll call your CO in a few minutes and let him know that I need you here for a few weeks. George will be glad to see you and one of Grace's first questions concerned your whereabouts. I believe she wants your help in planning her wedding."

"I'll be there in a few hours," Sam replied before hanging up and starting to put away the artifact she had been studying. She needed to pack a bag and catch the next transport headed for Colorado Springs.

Within hours Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter had her arms around her daughter. Both women were in tears as Jack looked on. After a few minutes, Sam pulled back and held Grace at arm's length. She looked up and down in disbelief at the woman her daughter had somehow turned into.


End file.
